There are specific things that draw us into romantic comedies, even though the story arcs in them are entirely predictable. One is pretty people with great chemistry falling in love. The second is usually an interesting or spectacular backdrop. And the third is the happy ending just about every romcom has. A new Turkish film has all that. But is it worth watching?
The Gist: We open the movie with Sahra (Ayça Aysin Turan) speeding along the Aegean coast, trying to call her grandmother, whom she calls Precious (Yildiz Kültür). She goes to her grandmother’s house, in the coastal Turkish town of Asoss, and it’s locked up tight. Deniz (Ekin Koç) is also looking for his grandmother, Semiha (Zerrin Sümer), who lives next door; she called him saying her heart was having issues then stopped answering his calls. They get so frantic that Sahra takes Deniz’ motorcycle helmet and throws it through Precious’ glass door. That’s when they find out their grandmas went to the beach together.
But it turns out that the 30-year-olds have a history together, and that their grandmothers’ phone shenanigans were no accident. Sure, Semiha wants Deniz to call and visit more, but don’t all grandmothers want that? No, the two grannies have a plan: They want their grandkids to rekindle something that just gotten started fifteen years ago, when they were teenagers.
Deniz still holds a grudge over whatever happened between him and Sahra back in the summer of 2008. He thinks bizarre things happen when Sahra is around, and he’s tried to avoid her since then. But the grannies keep trying, as Precious sends Sahra over with a plate of grape leaves, or Semiha pretends her cat is stuck in a tree.
Al the while, Sahra, an editor of a men’s magazine in Istanbul, is looking to interview a reclusive photographer named Deniz Tunali. She’s even staked her job on it, in an effort to rid the magazine of Kerem (Kemal Okan Özkan), a smarmy rival editor. Whoever lands the next cover gets promoted to editor-in-chief; they bet each other that the loser of that competition quits.
When she visits Semiha next door, Sahra sees a familiar photograph, and realizes that Deniz is in fact Deniz Tunali. She has her friend and colleague Ahu (Cagla Irmak) come down from Istanbul to help her secure that interview. Ahu comes up with a good tactic to bring Deniz closer; start hanging out with his childhood friend Ulas (Cagri Citanak), who owns a local restaurant.
The gambit works, as they involve him in scouting a location for another cover shoot. He brings in Deniz, who takes a very scared Sahra on his motorcycle to the very scenic and romantic shoreline spot. Will they start to fall for each other? Just what in the heck kind of grudge does Deniz have against Sahra? And what will happen when (not if) it’s revealed that she’s after him for this career-changing interview?
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Uh, pretty much every romantic comedy ever created. Name one; it really doesn’t matter which you choose.
Performance Worth Watching: Make Me Believe is full of unbelievably attractive people, but we couldn’t take our eyes off Ayça Aysin Turan as Sahra. Not only is she stunningly beautiful, but she infuses Sahra with warmth and an edginess that comes not only from her career ambitions but a family history that is more tragic than she lets on.
Memorable Dialogue: Every time Kerem comes up, the words “stupid creep” are bandied about. Sahra calls him that over the phone, not worrying about any HR disasters. He’s labeled as “CREEP” on her phone. And when Ahu tells Deniz and Ulas about him, she says to Deniz, “You’d beat him up if you knew him.”
Sex and Skin: All implied, nothing shown. Despite the TV-14 rating, it seems like a very chaste romcom.
Our Take: Make Me Believe, directed by Evren Karabiyik Günaydin and Murat Saraçoglu and written by Selen Bagci, is about as predictable as a romcom gets. The meet-cute, the friends trying to foster the connection, the dislike that really masks attraction, the inevitable hookup and happy times, the secret or event that splits them apart, then the happy reunion at the end. You can set your watch by when those moments show up in the 144-minute film.
The film also has plot flaws. The grannies’ schemes to get these two crazy kids together feels like it’s dropped halfway through the film, when one of their plots goes insanely wrong, leading to law enforcement intervention. In fact, we don’t seem to see much of the grannies after that incident.
The grudge Deniz has against Sahra isn’t explained until we’re about 2/3 of the way through the film, and when it is finally revealed, we were left wondering why it was such a big deal to begin with. We’re not sure why Sahra would want to interview Deniz instead of actually having his work grace the cover; you’d think that would be the better coup than some interview, no matter how reclusive he’s been. There’s a romantic spark between Ahu and Ulas that’s barely explored. Sahra’s tragic past is mentioned twice and used more to push along story than delve deeply into her charcter.
But, dammit if this film wasn’t a feast for the eyes, from the spectacular Aegean costal scenery to the amazingly-shot golden hour scenes of Asoss and its ruins to the ridiculously attractive stars of the film. The six main cast members do a good job of reeling us in and making us want to lounge around the two beachfront houses the grannies live in, wearing vacation clothes and having languid meals in outdoor cafes. Despite the plot holes and leaps of romantic faith, we still wanted to see Sahra and Deniz get together at the end, mainly because Koç and Turan have such good chemistry together.
Our Call: STREAM IT. If you want to look at pretty people falling in love against a spectacular backdrop that makes you want to book tickets to visit it as soon as you can, and you just don’t care about plot or predictability, then hit play on Make Me Believe.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.